Commentary

Entering or exiting a vehicle by opening a vehicle door and not having another driver see you in the path of traffic has resulted in an estimated one million deaths since the inception of the motor vehicle. We are all guilty of being exposed. In memory of those one million who have died and the 100 men, woman and children who will die tonight, I beg every vehicle owner and every vehicle manufacturer to apply what I have invented to help prevent the needless loss of life.

County Clerk Chris Jacobs and AAA Western and Central New York teamed up with AT&T, Erie County Sheriff’s Department and New York State Police to raise awareness for AAA’s 100 Deadliest Days for Drivers - the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day when teen crash fatalities historically climb, the AT&T “It Can Wait” campaign and state distracted driving laws. Distracted Driving Awareness Day in Western New York was hosted May 3 at the Erie County Auto Bureau in the Town of Tonawanda, where young drivers, parents and all those that visited the auto bureau were educated about the dangers of distracted driving.

By Marissa Shorenstein, New York President of AT&T and Anthony Spada, President-CEO, AAA Western and Central New York

When you’re driving and your phone makes that familiar “ding” sound, what do you do? Sadly, that’s a life or death question. Every day, nine Americans die from distracted driving such as texting and checking their phones. In New York State alone, there’s an 840 percent increase in tickets issued for texting while driving since 2011. How come? Because some drivers don’t believe It Can Wait.

It Can Wait is the name of AT&T’s campaign to educate motorists on the dangers of texting while driving. As New Yorkers mark another Distracted Driving Awareness Month, it’s a shame this dangerous behavior continues. Despite the number of crashes, life-altering injuries and preventable fatalities, drivers continue to put themselves and others at risk.

When a couple make the decision to have a child, a natural plan begins to fall into place. With great anticipation they wait for that happy plan to become reality — birthdays, elementary school, high school, college, marriage and eventually grandchildren. Never does that plan include the devastating loss of a child due to addiction.

Day after day we hear about opiate-related deaths in our region and across the country. Children are dying outside of the “natural order,” and when it occurs it sends people into a tailspin. We’re just not supposed to outlive our children.

While there is really no “getting over” such a loss, you can begin to integrate it into your life. It’s important to understand that grief is a long journey and finding normalcy takes time. You don't wake up one day and everything's good again.

Peshawar, Paris, Beirut- these are not one-off, isolated, contained pockets of dysfunction. They mirror something very fundamental about the human condition as a whole.

Violence is not merely the use of force. It is not the child of the battlefield, or the killing of innocents; it is not the use of firearms or fists. Violence is the seed planted in our drawing rooms and over our dining tables, in our classrooms and our marketplaces, in our sermons and our TV studios.

Every single time we glorify the 'self' and dehumanize the 'other'- by virtue, by race, by ethnicity, by nationality, by caste, by religion, by sex, by income group- the seed of violence is planted:

The Fourth of July is a favorite American holiday filled with fun, food, fireworks, friends and family. But celebrating can quickly turn to tragedy when people choose to drive after drinking. Monica Farrar, director of The Resource Training Center in Amherst, is urging everyone to plan ahead this Independence Day and designate a sober driver!

“The Fourth of July festivities can be so much fun,” said Farrar. “People make plans for the partying, but too many drivers don’t plan ahead to get home safely.”

Technology is a powerful tool created to utilize proper and quick communication. The history of the internet began in the 1950's with the creation of electronic computers. In the 1990's, there was a rise in computer use due to instant messaging, email, and the World Wide Web.

In our present societies, social media has turned into a "psychological dumping ground" where people often use technology to complain without action.